Halvarras

I visited Crewe Works (first time) on 3rd November 1969 and found the bogie-less D1733 perched on trestles, still in its original Bsyp livery. The locomotive which pioneered the BR double-arrow logo would later emerge from works newly dual-braked without them! (So did 1538 around this time.) So no, it definitely didn't gain full yellow ends on its XP64 blue. Also in works that day, still with small yellow panels on green livery, were D1754 and D1756, the latter being the Western Region's last '47' in original condition. The LMR's D1736 and D1744 would survive into the second half of 1970 still in Gsyp.

Gosh, I'd forgotten this kit even existed, thanks for the reminder! Imagine if MTK kits had been produced to the same standard as this and Dave Alexander products.......but I don't think Colin M's equipment was anywhere close to this level of sophistication, and it had been his range would probably have been considerably smaller (depriving @Darius43 of all the fun he's currently having!) The description on the box correctly points out that this bodyshell was applicable to Class 25/2 as well as 25/3, but it appears that the instructions may not have made reference to the first five being boiler-fitted........or perhaps they did but the builder simply missed it (Bachmann achieved the same with D5182 but in reverse). He's done a fantastic job otherwise though, it looks great.

If only I had, and I had the camera with me too! The darn thing suddenly turned up westbound light engine through platform 4 (down main) and went straight through, giving me no time to get the camera out and ready! One of the reasons I prefer semaphore signals, you get advance warning (he says, just 3 days before the semaphores at his local station are due to be felled......☹️) I took a couple of photos of green 20075 at Westhouses depot on 13th April 1979, but the very last green one, and last mainline diesel - 20141 - lasted just over a year longer (I believe the very last green loco of all was a Class 08 - 08934?) I have posted the pics of 20075 on here before, in the appropriate thread, but they may have been 'lost'. Unfortunately I can't get at them at the moment as our now rather old laptop has fallen foul of the 'File system error (-2147219196)' update fiasco, which prevents access to images, amongst other apps, on processors of a certain age. Microsoft broke it, so Microsoft had better fix it........ On reflection I do believe you are correct - time dims the memory! It was certainly fine weather in late May if my photos are any guide, but I think my recollections of August were coloured by that Reading Festival experience (I only went the once), which maybe proved that it wasn't only Glastonbury which suffered 'weather awareness'...... And that's why I wasn't worried about the 13-month drought order here in Cornwall, which expired on 25th September - I knew we were 'in for it' because this is how it always plays out, and now we have water running out of everywhere. It does make me wonder whether a proposed £125 million seawater desalination plant is really required to be built "in Par" (I hope they mean the largely disused two-thirds of Par Docks), but that's enough about that subject..... That was a problem with TOPS: "An unidentified Class 47 leaves Lime Street" - whereas before it would have been easily identified from this angle! Note that 08923 was one of the relatively uncommon 08s which survived dual-braking still in green livery - a purpose for that green '08' which Hornby issued with the air compressor box 'by accident' - was it D3963 or D3986? Yep, they were 03128 and 03134, both withdrawn ex-Laira (that depot never had a blue one). 03134 was towed from Laira to Bristol on 22nd May by 50050, I spotted them parked at Taunton from a Paddington - Paignton special hauled by 31416+31419 that day. I photographed these two 03s from ground level within the depot on 31st July 1976 (how on earth did we get away with it?!) - these represented two-thirds of the total number of green TOPS Class 03s, and I'd just photographed the other third, 03382, moving its 13-Ton open match wagon around in front of the depot. The Co-Bo needs no introduction! Again I've posted these pics on RMweb before but.........see above!

I don't recall the summer of '75 being that hot 'Chard (I got a bit damp at the Reading Festival that August!), it was better than 1974 but 1976 was.......well, legendary, for chasing Westerns too! Is that the one you're thinking of? My first sighting of TOPS numbers on a green loco was 08803 at Didcot on 15/2/74, the second at Reading the following day was 31294 (!!) The weekend after that (50 years and 6 days ago, ouch!) I paid my one and only visit to Dai Woodham's Rust Emporium at Barry, by train from Swindon, and it was interesting to note how few locos had been renumbered in South Wales compared to over the border. No green TOPS locos were seen that day, it was the following weekend that I would clap eyes on my third example and first green Class 47 at Reading - 47152 (I got to the point eventually!) I made a note in my spotting book that the number had been applied in the same bodyside position as on blue 47s - the WR did this to all of its green 47s, as did the ScR; the ER applied them to the cabside and the LMR did both, although bodyside numbers were less common (47109/264/333 come to mind). 47152 had previously been D1745, which sticks in the memory because at one stage it displayed 'D1745' in block serif numbers at one end and '1745' in the new font at the other - such mixes were not particularly rare but retention of the 'D' prefix was by then. I can't say what the other side looked like though. I visited Crewe Works in March 1976 and found the last vac-only 47s there, in various stages of overhaul, identifiable by those fixed roof grilles (plus a bit of knowledge about the last survivors!) 47148 (ex-1741) was an interesting case as I recorded it in green livery then in 'ex-works' blue.......except that it couldn't have been because it retained the fixed roof grilles - had it gone through works, it would have been dual-braked for sure at that time and received the Serck shutters, so must have been a depot repaint. In reality then the life-span of Bachmann's model of 47148 in blue with fixed grilles was rather short! Since 1741 was renumbered 47148 while still in green it would not have run as 1741 in blue, something which George Dent failed to spot.....😉!

Looking very good so far - I'm keeping an eye on your progress! The five JGAs are still parked in St Blazey yard and as you say were just getting shunted from siding to siding for a while, although they haven't moved for several months now. I believe just one was added to a rake of JIAs to see how it would work in practice, but sadly as you know it didn't. A shame really as the clays are now operated with just one type of wagon - and by the same Class 66 for two to three weeks - so they'd have been welcomed for a bit of variety (all those different 1980s clay wagons seem like a very long time ago now!) No idea what the future holds for the JGAs at the moment.....

Bet you had to go and lie down in a darkened room after getting all those tiny end bits made and attached 😑! Excellent progress, looking good!

PS the other sign in the window says "Par Signalbox, 1879 - 2024, Consigned to the History Books".

Par signal box a few hours ago. Note the countdown in the window, and base for the new signal. If you look carefully you can see the up signals in the distance through the framework (yes I did that on purpose!) Sobering to think this building controlled Broad Gauge trains for the first 13 years of its life! I must call in and take some finial photos (see what I did there?!) - if the rain stops over the next 6 days.....er, 5 days!

Re the two-tone green ones - D1526's No 1 end faces right - D1969's No 1 End faces left......so why are the BR emblems both to the right? Answer - D1526's emblem has been printed on the wrong end! (There was a batch around D1552-7 which did have their emblems applied to the wrong end from new for some reason - but D1526 was 'conventional' (I checked.....just in case!)

I hope Colin M is looking down and watching all your builds Darius - he'd love this! He was a real character - gotta like a bloke who called his own O gauge kits 'El Crappo'!!

Looking back at the decoration sample we had every reason to expect that this had been corrected: So it's likely that Hornby themselves were disappointed at this upon opening the boxes containing the first production batch - assuming they even noticed it.......some of us have been dealing with BR liveries for enough decades to spot a right-facing emblem straightaway, it just looks wrong (same with the double-arrow logo). I find some transfer sheets disappointing as the ratio of left- to right-facing emblems provided doesn't match reality, so the correct ones run out leaving a lot of unused incorrect ones (reminder - this only applies to the late emblem, not the early crest). It appears that the emblem on the other side of the model is correctly facing left, so both face backwards - as @cctransuk says it would have been more acceptable if they'd both faced forwards, i.e. the wrong one was on the other side, since this was seen on some early-production BR locos. Some years ago - around 15 I think - I took exception to Heljan's too-dark rendering of the lion & wheel in the emblems on a Class 47 (D1734 - renumbered to a longer-lived example....!) so erased just these features inside the circle and replaced them with those cut out of waterslide transfers. I was very pleased with the result but it's not something my eyesight is up to these days! Nevertheless I thought I'd mention this possible correction for those with younger eyes and bothered about it on this model.

I never thought for one moment that you'd leave it alone! However losing the crest is probably just as well since, according to the photos I have in front of me (MLI 222 page 11) Hornby have printed this back-to-front (right-facing late crests did exist, so I had to check, but only briefly and were an incorrect application). Other than that it looks very smart. Even if the bufferbeams look like they've been dipped in tomato sauce......which makes a change from custard I suppose 😉!

At least that's another one not available RTR (I assume this is a consideration?) You built the 4-GRI in 4 weeks so..........the 2-HAL should be done in a fortnight then. Oooh, hang on - no interiors.........12 days. No pressure........😁! (Only kidding, as that wouldn't achieve the stated aim of taking it easy!) As always I'll be following with interest. It's another reminder of just how many oddball subjects CM managed to cover in his MTK range.

When I got interested in Cornwall's railways in 1966 the only diesel-electrics around had six wheels and moved wagons around in goods yards. I was in a scout group at the time and during the last week of July 1967 Cornish scout groups were booked into the scouting centre at Gilwell Park, the railhead for which was Chingford. A special train was provided which took D827 'Kelly' around London to reach that destination in the early hours of 25th July, and having woken up in time my bleary eyes saw D101, D5185, D7645, D5525, D8202/7 and D8405, with E3172 noted during a day trip. All totally 'foreign' to me of course! But astonishingly not a single Class 37 or 47 - my first of the latter, D1677 'Thor', would turn up on home turf two months later. The next time I managed to get off the WR was early November 1969, to Stafford to visit relatives, although by road. They lived within easy walking distance of the WCML south of Stafford station so the first afternoon (and encouraged by my uncle, who got me into the modelling-making hobby in the first place), I went to see the local trains at an overbridge. For some reason the 'juice' was off so only diesels were seen - by then D1709 and D1856 were no great shakes but D5015 on a slow northbound PW train was a first, then came a big green whistling thing with full yellow ends on a southbound passenger working, which increased the excitement by getting held at a signal a distance away, and when the driver had eventually finished his conversation at the post and climbed back into the cab, D218 'Carmania' whistled under the bridge and away to London. Awesome - and another named 'first'! While we were in Stafford I'd get to Crewe and Derby and go around both Works - more 'firsts', including Class 20s, 50s and 76s and a last look at D1733 in XP64 blue at Crewe - but at that time no WR Class 37s were seen there, while Derby provided D2506 and D5381 of note (the latter would be the only BRCW Type 2 I'd ever see with a pre-TOPS number). Derby station proved just as interesting that day as my first Class 37 (at last!), 6807, went through on a freight one way while my second Class 31, 5825, did likewise in the opposite direction. The infamous D326 arrived light-engine and D8000 + D8063 passed by as well. The 1960s were wrapped up in style as at the end of the following month, between Christmas and New Year, another family visit to Camberley enabled my first visit to London termini via Waterloo, so a few more Class 31s and 37s in the bag and at Kings Cross of course, my first 'Deltic', D9020 'Nimbus'. Only much later did I discover that the last green one, D9014, had gone blue the previous month, so I never saw a green Class 55 in service (other than 55002 just the once, in 1981). The 1970s were onwards and upwards from there! It sometimes surprises me to remember that during these spotting trips over the two months of 1969 I was only 16 and travelling around unfamiliar territory by myself. However the railway timetables held no fear and, well, it was just a different world back then.

Bachmann produced this as a limited edition for Kernow.....in case it's relevant. Grey stripe rather than white though:

Mainline diesel loco-wise 20007 is doing well (introduced September 1957).....

Dorian......Darius? Hmm, good point Mike, just coincidental, or........🤔? At least when I built my Class 119 kit I really was only 23 😜!! Dorian.....sorry I mean Darius (🤭), did you stock up on Hornby drive units and bogies - as well as a mountain of plasticard - in readiness for this MTK onslaught, while they were still available, possibly from Lendon's of Cardiff who sell these bogies at astonishingly low prices........when they have them? I've had a 2-BIL motor bogie on back order for a couple of years or more and I think I may have to wait until Hornby produce another batch of these EMUs to get hold of it - fortunately I'm in no rush, and by the time it arrives I think its purpose may have changed anyway!

Thread started 23rd January - model completed 23rd February. I reckon you must live in some kind of quantum realm which makes your days longer than everyone else's! It doesn't seem to matter how many vehicles are involved, or the complexity - window frame overlays on this one - all you seem to require per kit is one month (standard Earth time equivalent!) Stunning result (again) and as others have said, probably your best one yet. I get a sense that you're on a roll with your MTK stash.....!

Hopefully the Class 02 will take after the Class 11 instead of the PWM 'misfire' - purchasers of the former seem happy with it to date......🤞

I had a couple of those early metal-chassis 47s, they did run well although I wasn't convinced by the bogie pivoting arrangement and having pick-ups pushing the split-sleeve trailing bogie wheelsets apart was a ridiculous idea (variable back-to-backs?!) - I replaced these on mine with Silver Seal wagon wheels on steel axles, which made negotiating pointwork a tad more reliable!

I'm just reading 'Small Layout Design Handbook'* (Christmas present!)........and I think I'm going to have to get this one too! Certainly gets the ol' grey matter churning.......especially as I spy a 'Drinnick Mill' plan in the new one - attention grabbed! *I must pop around to Ponts Mill and have a look - I believe much of the track is still in situ but overgrown ('Abandoned rails.....' thread material 🙂!)

Economical source of logos, if of interest: https://blacksquaredecals.co.uk/Miscellaneous-Products/Generic-Decals/Generic-Decals-Shell-New-8mm Also available in 10mm and 15mm sizes. No connection, just happy customer (I've used the Gulf logos from BSD, very nice).

D1702 got its 12LDA28C engine from written-off D1908 (which was the 10th Class 47 I ever saw, in 1968 and by pure chance). D1702/3/5 were all inside Crewe Works on 3/11/69 but there was no sign of the remains of D1908 (withdrawn 8/69) which had been cut up the previous month.

Those interiors look fabulous - there are not many models out there sporting such thorough treatment, and it's great to see this in MTK kits of all things! Well done for coming up with the idea and applying if so diligently - it must keep you occupied for a few hours............er............in your case, minutes?! 😃

Another very decent MTK find - looking at all those door shutline transfers I think a new word for "tedious" is required (I thought applying these to my Class 119 unit back in 1975 was bad enough) but hey, someone else has done all that for you, what's not to like?! With a motor bogie at each end how does the whole unit run? Those old Tri-ang MBs could (and still can) be remarkably smooth-running. I reckon the steel axles and brass gears* gave them the edge over the diesels which used one-piece nylon gear/axles - any inaccuracy in the moulding could make the motor bogie run with a surging motion, so there was an element of luck involved. *I know later versions had nylon gears but at least mounting them on steel axles gave them a head start over the one-piece things.